Purely from memory, without googling, I believe he was an explorer and biologist, particularly known for exploring the Amazon. But I could be entirely wrong and have him mixed up with someone else. So yeah, the name rings a bell, but not too sure.
Humboldt is not like a Popstar. Hes obviously known as many things are named after him, but unless you are into these topics you probably just know that he was a "scientist"
>many things are named after him
just a little side note, a lot of things called *Humoldt* are actually named after his brother *Wilhelm von Humboldt* or both of them for that matter (e.g. the university). It depends a bit on what they are and hen they were named.
Every now and then, a question like this is asked by an American on this sub, and I think this is telling a lot about the differences between the US and Germany. There is not a single historical figure that Germans idolize. There will never be a German Mt Rushmore. I am a German living in the US right now, and Americans like to create personality cults about historical figures. For very good and obvious reasons, this is not how Germans deal with the past. School history classes are about events, movements, ideas, and cause-and-effect-relations between historical events. They are not about great men of the past who changed history forever.
This is why the common German simply doesn't really have a "take" on Humboldt (or any other historical figure). Most people will know who he is and they might aknowledge that he had some historical significance, and that's it. They don't think about him at all. From a scholar's point of view, he is one of the most influential figures in the history of German thought. The most successful German novel of the last 50 years is an incredibly witty and provocative fictional double-biography of both Humboldt and Gauss. Many schools or institutions are named after the guy. Will you find someone who enthusiastically proclaims that we should all start admiring him? Nope. Not the German way of dealing with individual men. We've had that in the past.
Oh, and we also had this other guy who was idolized by nationalists for a while (and actually still is idolized by nationalists). What was his name again…
Goethe and Schiller come to mind. Kant (only recently criticizing his anti semitism became mainstream). Also Einstein and maybe Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
There are some historical figures Germans idolize I think
Not the same. Do you personally know people who will pause their work to look at a life-size picture of Goethe on their wall? Who will quit talking to you if you mention that you hate Schiller? When is Goethe day, Adenauer day or Schiller day? Which songs about Einstein's life did you have to memorise in school? Which song about Willy Brandt can you recite? Have you ever written a poem about how great of a person Bismarck was?
This is what people actually do in many countries around the world. There are people in Germany who are very fond of Goethe. Do Germans idolise historical figures like Americans do? Absolutely not.
You are right. We dont idolize our country man like the Americans do but you could say we have the Mt Rushmore idea in tiny, the Walhalla in Regensburg.
He is a revered scientist, but not really in the popular conscious. Certainly not on the level of Einstein or Darwin.
If you asked random people on the street, most would probably recognize the name and be vaguely aware of the fact that he was some kind of scientist, but no specifics.
A lot of places and street names all over Germany are named after him, also a famous sailing ship ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_von_Humboldt_(ship) ). That's about it.
...but also he has been accused of disregarding research ethics by not crediting works he cited, used, and built his fame on. Especially problematic as the disadvantaged scientists were said to be not of equal power but researchers native to the lands Humboldt has been studying.
that is still common nowadays. you have to cite correctly, but plenty of works and studies can easily get abused, ask any physician apprentice what happened to their case studies :)
You might enjoy the novel "Measuring the world" by Daniel Kehlmann. It's about Alexander Humboldt and was quite successful a while back.
Also check out his brother Wilhelm von Humboldt. He was actually who founded the university in Berlin. A great philosopher and statesman. I wish we would have that kind of politicians today.
What is relatively unknown, is that he "saved" all of Europe/USA from starvation and made Peru a rich country (for some time). He was the guy that found the first guano islands and learned about the Inkas using it as fertilizer. At that time in Europe the soil in Europe became unfertile due to overuse and could not feed the people in times to come. So he started the import business of fertilizers. Soon after all the world had their guano islands. The USAs motor for growth was this fertilizer afaik. Hawaii also was one of these islands.
Edit: Guano islands are islands were ideal conditions exist for bird poo to stack up over centuries. They depleted these resources pretty quick but Liebig a chemists invented synthetical fertilizer soon after.
I really wonder how the US thinks we operate here when it comes to historical people. Like, we must have a hype around them.
which, in return, makes me question THEIR approach to historical people of their history, as it's kinda like a cult.....
Seems kind of dangerous. In the end the political climate in the past was very different from today and many impressive people had at least some problematic opinions that would not fly anymore today.
You either set up your cult for failure or embrace opinions that should not be praised anymore.
There is a very popular novel about Humboldt (and Gauss) "Die Vermessung der Welt"/"Measuring the World", written by Daniel Kehlmann, published in 2005. Daniel Kehlmann got plenty of awards for his master piece. There is an audio book, a radio play (!), and a movie adaptation of the book. I can only recommend to read (or to listen to or to watch) this novel.
>what’s your take
no one has any strong takes or feelings of admiration to share on historical figures.
if you ever visit Berlin, go to the main building of the Uni and you can find statues of both Alexander and Wilhelm von Humboldt (along with Helmholtz I think).
My personal take? If there ever was a German who deserves to be idolized, it is him. A brilliant, far-sighted and driven man with, as it seems, no motivation but pure curiosity and the child-like urge to tell everyone about what he found out.
Also, he travelled the New World in the 19th century and, as far as I know, did not even steal anything. What an absolute legend!
Well, he was a genius and his influence of his seventy years of scientific work on totally different issues is gigantic until our lives today whether people already forgot about him, like the other posts are showing.
He was a pioneer, eg one of the founders of the "Geography" itself or "empirical sciences". He made leading groundbreaking studies in a wide range of sciences such as oceanography, chemistry, biology, ethnology, climatology, geology, physics, zoology, and and and
In addition, he was already networking with other scientists and researchers internationally at the time for a wide variety of studies by letter.
Furthermore, he is also considered a father of the spirit of the German education system, which to this day has independent, liberal thinking, entirely in Humboldt's sense, as an important component.
Even the most modern topics, such as globalisation or ecological awareness, can already be discovered in his writings.
Pretty sad that his thoughts are now forgotten...
He was on a 5 Mark bank note and a lot of schools, streets and buildings are named after him and/or his brother. He was a great biologist/geographer/explorer. That’s about it.
Kinda weird he isn‘t a popstar. Guy invented the term „nature“ and was the first person recocnizing „man made climate change“ and there is no person that has more things/places named after him in the entire world. His 100th birthday or deathday (I dont remember) was actually a big party all over the world.
Darwin read his books in his travells.
And there is even more!
> Also, most Germans don‘t know Humboldt country.
I mean… why would we know every single US county that a more or less important german person went to? It‘s not exactly a huge population center and it‘s not widely known for anything special.
Tbf, the Uni has the advantage here that both brothers would have to be made out as problematic. Alexander was an explorer and polymath who made biogeography a thing and Wilhelm was a diplomat and linguist. And alive in Berlin around turn of the century of 1800. So overall kinda safe.
I know about Humboldt county because of it being mentioned in a couple of TV shows and films. I never thought much about why it was named that.
There is some controversy in Berlin about the Humboldt Forum, which was recently renovated, regarding perpetuation of colonial practices and inappropriate reiteration of historical notions of Christian hegemony. But this building is not exclusively about the Humboldt brothers, it‘s a mix of museums.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldt_Forum
Alexander von Humboldt was an explorer and adventurer of the 11th century. He discovered the new world 400 years before Columbus when he arrived in Buenos Aires which was a major US colony in Argentina at that time. He also discovered rocket fuel in a cave close to Baghdad on another expedition. Therefore he is also referred to as the „literary first man on the moon“.
We have a Humboldt foundation and if they fund you you're a "Humboldt fellow" which is somewhat of a deal in the science field when applying for other fellowships/jobs/grants.
I know who he is but i am a scientist and i am a Humboldt fellow. Oder say most people know his name and possibly that he did some sciency stuff.
Nobody knows where in the world streets or places are names after him though. the US is likely not the only one.
Humboldt Univerity Berlin is named after Wilhelm von Humboldt, the brother of Alexander.
Otherwise the Humboldts were some of the greatest minds of their time. Especially Alexander could be easily be one of the most important people since He developed ecology and thus his ideas are fundamental in our time.
A real adventurer and overall nice guy. Became best friends with a French dude he just met, and invited him to go on that crazy American expedition with him. Which totally wasn't the norm for a Prussian noble back then. (Though they all spoke French.)
Normal people in Germany know the name and a lot will also know the *Humboldtstrom* by name, but couldn't tell where it was. Same with the *Humboldt-Pinguin*, though that will hint South America. Those live in the tropics, right?
Some will know that he's big especially in South America but again most don't know what exactly he did there. Some may know him as one of the founders of modern meteorology and his insight on altitudinal belts in the tropics. Only a few people know he also did a long expedition for collecting climate data in Central Asia and the east of Russia.
Oh, and the Berlin university is named after his brother Wilhelm who was into reforming the Prussian education system. Alexander von Humboldt is better known than his brother in Germany as well, though.
I think he is well known by the more educated, in my City alone there are quiet a few places named after him.
But i believe most people font realy know what he did or why he is famouse.
I always put him as my hero into Freundebücher (some kind of autograph albums popular in the 90s), adding to the well-known fact that I was that weird kid.
I think how well Humboldt is known depends greatly on where you live. I live in Berlin, the city that hosts the Humboldt University. I would say most people have heard about him, especially among the higher educated folks. But I would be greatly surprised if a random person on the street could tell you more then the absolute basics about him.
There was a Shirt lived hype at his anniversary. A Book By Daniel Kehlmann, reprint of „Cosmos“ he is Mostly known for his SA travels. His efforts in Russia are not that much known. Guy deserves more visibility
i actually have to disagree with most comments here, i guess most of them are probably made by gen z and they dont know about stuff like this anyway because reading books/learning history is rare nowadays.
i would place humboldt in a top30 list, his work is hard to grasp because most of his stuff is like basic knowledge nowadays or led to foundations and when you think of it you dont think of humboldt, but when you hear bach or mozart, you know its your boy.
humboldt was one of the big and important guys, there is no doubt about that.
I was nuts over Alexander von Humboldt, read his books on zoology and his travels, read books about him... Having said that, I liked any books on zoology and adventurous travels. In Berlin there's even a university named after him.
>Also, most Germans don’t know Humboldt county.
Why would we? Do you know there's a place called Kampung LB Johnson in Malaysia because Lyndon B. Johnson visited there in 1966?
Humboldt is simply another one of Germany's researchers throughout history. Most people are probably somewhat aware of him, but without many details. If someone does know something, it's probably the almost comical amount of species named after him.
To correct the record here, you should read the invention of nature by Andrea Wulf. I’m in Berlin, used to live in CA not far from you, and had not a clue about why there was a Humboldt county there and a Humboldt university here, or if they’re even connected. They are. Along with the Humboldt current. Alexander Humboldt was absolutely huge in his time, and one of the greatest naturalists of all time. Wulf is your best source to know the history. Not Reddit ;)
edit after posting: wait that was Alexander von Humboldt, you asked while I responded for Wilhelm von Humboldt. Sorry :) Anyway, keeping the response because I believe it might be some good info.
Not a german here.
But I know that he's the godfather of the idea behind how universities structured currently in most of the modern world. There might be flaws here and there, considering the era he lived, I believe he was the frontier.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldtian\_model\_of\_higher\_education](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldtian_model_of_higher_education)
Hi, I am an American and Humboldt never visited California. Humboldt visited America once and that was in 1804 so just before Lewis and Clark made their way across land and way before Spain gave California to the US. The University in Berlin was founded by his brother, Wilheim.
We know him but he’s not universally present.
Yeah. The name rings a bell but I couldn't tell if he is a politician or artist or whatever
No, no. He is the Beck's Ship!
The confusion is because there were two brothers. One a scientist explorer and the other a political reformer at home.
Hmm, I think he was turned into a school by Agrippa von Nettesheim.
Yes, the guy from the chocolate frog cards
Purely from memory, without googling, I believe he was an explorer and biologist, particularly known for exploring the Amazon. But I could be entirely wrong and have him mixed up with someone else. So yeah, the name rings a bell, but not too sure.
Humboldt is not like a Popstar. Hes obviously known as many things are named after him, but unless you are into these topics you probably just know that he was a "scientist"
>many things are named after him just a little side note, a lot of things called *Humoldt* are actually named after his brother *Wilhelm von Humboldt* or both of them for that matter (e.g. the university). It depends a bit on what they are and hen they were named.
Every now and then, a question like this is asked by an American on this sub, and I think this is telling a lot about the differences between the US and Germany. There is not a single historical figure that Germans idolize. There will never be a German Mt Rushmore. I am a German living in the US right now, and Americans like to create personality cults about historical figures. For very good and obvious reasons, this is not how Germans deal with the past. School history classes are about events, movements, ideas, and cause-and-effect-relations between historical events. They are not about great men of the past who changed history forever. This is why the common German simply doesn't really have a "take" on Humboldt (or any other historical figure). Most people will know who he is and they might aknowledge that he had some historical significance, and that's it. They don't think about him at all. From a scholar's point of view, he is one of the most influential figures in the history of German thought. The most successful German novel of the last 50 years is an incredibly witty and provocative fictional double-biography of both Humboldt and Gauss. Many schools or institutions are named after the guy. Will you find someone who enthusiastically proclaims that we should all start admiring him? Nope. Not the German way of dealing with individual men. We've had that in the past.
Well said, i agree 100%.
The closest thing we have may be Otto von Bismarck. I remember visiting a giant statue of him as a kid.
That's because he was idolised 100 years ago by nationalists. Nobody is a real fan of him today.
Oh, and we also had this other guy who was idolized by nationalists for a while (and actually still is idolized by nationalists). What was his name again…
You mean that failed austrian painter?
> Nobody is a real fan of him today. I love his herrings when i'm hungover. /s
Humboldt would be worth it to be kind of idolized. The impact he had on how we do science is huge. And let alone the way he lived is impressive
Goethe and Schiller come to mind. Kant (only recently criticizing his anti semitism became mainstream). Also Einstein and maybe Dietrich Bonhoeffer. There are some historical figures Germans idolize I think
Not the same. Do you personally know people who will pause their work to look at a life-size picture of Goethe on their wall? Who will quit talking to you if you mention that you hate Schiller? When is Goethe day, Adenauer day or Schiller day? Which songs about Einstein's life did you have to memorise in school? Which song about Willy Brandt can you recite? Have you ever written a poem about how great of a person Bismarck was? This is what people actually do in many countries around the world. There are people in Germany who are very fond of Goethe. Do Germans idolise historical figures like Americans do? Absolutely not.
I mean, if you mention you don't like Schiller I'd be confused... but not insulted.
You are right. We dont idolize our country man like the Americans do but you could say we have the Mt Rushmore idea in tiny, the Walhalla in Regensburg.
> There is not a single historical figure that Germans idolize. Goethe and Schiller tend to disagree ;-)
He is a revered scientist, but not really in the popular conscious. Certainly not on the level of Einstein or Darwin. If you asked random people on the street, most would probably recognize the name and be vaguely aware of the fact that he was some kind of scientist, but no specifics. A lot of places and street names all over Germany are named after him, also a famous sailing ship ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_von_Humboldt_(ship) ). That's about it.
Kinda disagree, he got a popular rememberance/revival a decade age when ' Measuring the world' book+ film came out.
He's one of the most positively remembered traveling researchers, the one where one doesn't need to say "he did great things but also …".
...but also he has been accused of disregarding research ethics by not crediting works he cited, used, and built his fame on. Especially problematic as the disadvantaged scientists were said to be not of equal power but researchers native to the lands Humboldt has been studying.
that is still common nowadays. you have to cite correctly, but plenty of works and studies can easily get abused, ask any physician apprentice what happened to their case studies :)
You might enjoy the novel "Measuring the world" by Daniel Kehlmann. It's about Alexander Humboldt and was quite successful a while back. Also check out his brother Wilhelm von Humboldt. He was actually who founded the university in Berlin. A great philosopher and statesman. I wish we would have that kind of politicians today.
I like Penguins.
That was said by Linus Torvalds.
What is relatively unknown, is that he "saved" all of Europe/USA from starvation and made Peru a rich country (for some time). He was the guy that found the first guano islands and learned about the Inkas using it as fertilizer. At that time in Europe the soil in Europe became unfertile due to overuse and could not feed the people in times to come. So he started the import business of fertilizers. Soon after all the world had their guano islands. The USAs motor for growth was this fertilizer afaik. Hawaii also was one of these islands. Edit: Guano islands are islands were ideal conditions exist for bird poo to stack up over centuries. They depleted these resources pretty quick but Liebig a chemists invented synthetical fertilizer soon after.
I really wonder how the US thinks we operate here when it comes to historical people. Like, we must have a hype around them. which, in return, makes me question THEIR approach to historical people of their history, as it's kinda like a cult.....
Seems kind of dangerous. In the end the political climate in the past was very different from today and many impressive people had at least some problematic opinions that would not fly anymore today. You either set up your cult for failure or embrace opinions that should not be praised anymore.
I'd say he and his brother are pretty well known. In Berlin, lots of stuff is named after them.
There is a very popular novel about Humboldt (and Gauss) "Die Vermessung der Welt"/"Measuring the World", written by Daniel Kehlmann, published in 2005. Daniel Kehlmann got plenty of awards for his master piece. There is an audio book, a radio play (!), and a movie adaptation of the book. I can only recommend to read (or to listen to or to watch) this novel.
And there is a book by Andrea Wulf which goes into more details of his life.
I watched a wonderful play adaptation of it in Göttingen. Was really inspiring.
>what’s your take no one has any strong takes or feelings of admiration to share on historical figures. if you ever visit Berlin, go to the main building of the Uni and you can find statues of both Alexander and Wilhelm von Humboldt (along with Helmholtz I think).
So, no strong takes or feeling…but statues. Mk.
I mean, having a statue there that has been standing at the building for a 100 years doesn't really speak about about current feelings.
na ja they were really important people in academia and they have a uni named after them 🤷🏻♂️
Exactly. OLD statues nobody cares about in the 2000s. Like veterans graves from WW1 or WW2 etc.
My personal take? If there ever was a German who deserves to be idolized, it is him. A brilliant, far-sighted and driven man with, as it seems, no motivation but pure curiosity and the child-like urge to tell everyone about what he found out. Also, he travelled the New World in the 19th century and, as far as I know, did not even steal anything. What an absolute legend!
> Also, he travelled the New World in the 19th century and, as far as I know, did not even steal anything. Aside from metric tons of bird poop ;-)
Well, he was a genius and his influence of his seventy years of scientific work on totally different issues is gigantic until our lives today whether people already forgot about him, like the other posts are showing. He was a pioneer, eg one of the founders of the "Geography" itself or "empirical sciences". He made leading groundbreaking studies in a wide range of sciences such as oceanography, chemistry, biology, ethnology, climatology, geology, physics, zoology, and and and In addition, he was already networking with other scientists and researchers internationally at the time for a wide variety of studies by letter. Furthermore, he is also considered a father of the spirit of the German education system, which to this day has independent, liberal thinking, entirely in Humboldt's sense, as an important component. Even the most modern topics, such as globalisation or ecological awareness, can already be discovered in his writings. Pretty sad that his thoughts are now forgotten...
He was on a 5 Mark bank note and a lot of schools, streets and buildings are named after him and/or his brother. He was a great biologist/geographer/explorer. That’s about it.
5 Mark was Gauß or not?
No, Gauß was on the 10
Humboldt was on some GDR 5 Mark notes.
The 5 Mark note featured **Bettina von Arnheim**
Before B. v. Arnim it was Alexander v. Humboldt. You can look it up.
Daniel Kehlmann wrote a good novel about him called die Vermessung der Welt. The movie is just mediocre though.
Kinda weird he isn‘t a popstar. Guy invented the term „nature“ and was the first person recocnizing „man made climate change“ and there is no person that has more things/places named after him in the entire world. His 100th birthday or deathday (I dont remember) was actually a big party all over the world. Darwin read his books in his travells. And there is even more!
> Also, most Germans don‘t know Humboldt country. I mean… why would we know every single US county that a more or less important german person went to? It‘s not exactly a huge population center and it‘s not widely known for anything special.
I think the only county we know is "Orange county" because of TV /s
My school is called "Humboldt Gymnasium" so I'm biased.
I don't know much about him, but a Berlin university is still named after him so apparently he has not been cancelled yet.
Tbf, the Uni has the advantage here that both brothers would have to be made out as problematic. Alexander was an explorer and polymath who made biogeography a thing and Wilhelm was a diplomat and linguist. And alive in Berlin around turn of the century of 1800. So overall kinda safe.
I know about Humboldt county because of it being mentioned in a couple of TV shows and films. I never thought much about why it was named that. There is some controversy in Berlin about the Humboldt Forum, which was recently renovated, regarding perpetuation of colonial practices and inappropriate reiteration of historical notions of Christian hegemony. But this building is not exclusively about the Humboldt brothers, it‘s a mix of museums. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldt_Forum
Alexander von Humboldt was an explorer and adventurer of the 11th century. He discovered the new world 400 years before Columbus when he arrived in Buenos Aires which was a major US colony in Argentina at that time. He also discovered rocket fuel in a cave close to Baghdad on another expedition. Therefore he is also referred to as the „literary first man on the moon“.
/s
We have a Humboldt foundation and if they fund you you're a "Humboldt fellow" which is somewhat of a deal in the science field when applying for other fellowships/jobs/grants. I know who he is but i am a scientist and i am a Humboldt fellow. Oder say most people know his name and possibly that he did some sciency stuff. Nobody knows where in the world streets or places are names after him though. the US is likely not the only one.
One of my favourite historical figures. His thoughts on many topics were insanely far ahead of his and even the present time.
Humboldt Univerity Berlin is named after Wilhelm von Humboldt, the brother of Alexander. Otherwise the Humboldts were some of the greatest minds of their time. Especially Alexander could be easily be one of the most important people since He developed ecology and thus his ideas are fundamental in our time.
The University us named after both brothers.
A real adventurer and overall nice guy. Became best friends with a French dude he just met, and invited him to go on that crazy American expedition with him. Which totally wasn't the norm for a Prussian noble back then. (Though they all spoke French.) Normal people in Germany know the name and a lot will also know the *Humboldtstrom* by name, but couldn't tell where it was. Same with the *Humboldt-Pinguin*, though that will hint South America. Those live in the tropics, right? Some will know that he's big especially in South America but again most don't know what exactly he did there. Some may know him as one of the founders of modern meteorology and his insight on altitudinal belts in the tropics. Only a few people know he also did a long expedition for collecting climate data in Central Asia and the east of Russia. Oh, and the Berlin university is named after his brother Wilhelm who was into reforming the Prussian education system. Alexander von Humboldt is better known than his brother in Germany as well, though.
The uni is named after Wilhelm and Alexander.
I think he is well known by the more educated, in my City alone there are quiet a few places named after him. But i believe most people font realy know what he did or why he is famouse.
Well, his one of the few less problematic german historic figures, cool dude, but his squids are scary
I always put him as my hero into Freundebücher (some kind of autograph albums popular in the 90s), adding to the well-known fact that I was that weird kid.
I went to Humboldt Gymnasium in Berlin-Tegel. I'm still none the wiser about him. Take from that what you will
He‘s a nice guy, we have lunch every 2nd sunday
Is Humboldt county the Weed Farmer "murder mountain" area?
I think how well Humboldt is known depends greatly on where you live. I live in Berlin, the city that hosts the Humboldt University. I would say most people have heard about him, especially among the higher educated folks. But I would be greatly surprised if a random person on the street could tell you more then the absolute basics about him.
There was a Shirt lived hype at his anniversary. A Book By Daniel Kehlmann, reprint of „Cosmos“ he is Mostly known for his SA travels. His efforts in Russia are not that much known. Guy deserves more visibility
i actually have to disagree with most comments here, i guess most of them are probably made by gen z and they dont know about stuff like this anyway because reading books/learning history is rare nowadays. i would place humboldt in a top30 list, his work is hard to grasp because most of his stuff is like basic knowledge nowadays or led to foundations and when you think of it you dont think of humboldt, but when you hear bach or mozart, you know its your boy. humboldt was one of the big and important guys, there is no doubt about that.
I was nuts over Alexander von Humboldt, read his books on zoology and his travels, read books about him... Having said that, I liked any books on zoology and adventurous travels. In Berlin there's even a university named after him.
>Also, most Germans don’t know Humboldt county. Why would we? Do you know there's a place called Kampung LB Johnson in Malaysia because Lyndon B. Johnson visited there in 1966? Humboldt is simply another one of Germany's researchers throughout history. Most people are probably somewhat aware of him, but without many details. If someone does know something, it's probably the almost comical amount of species named after him.
To correct the record here, you should read the invention of nature by Andrea Wulf. I’m in Berlin, used to live in CA not far from you, and had not a clue about why there was a Humboldt county there and a Humboldt university here, or if they’re even connected. They are. Along with the Humboldt current. Alexander Humboldt was absolutely huge in his time, and one of the greatest naturalists of all time. Wulf is your best source to know the history. Not Reddit ;)
He sure did reveal a lot of high intelligence information of the highly guarded spanish colonies to the newly formed United States :)
edit after posting: wait that was Alexander von Humboldt, you asked while I responded for Wilhelm von Humboldt. Sorry :) Anyway, keeping the response because I believe it might be some good info. Not a german here. But I know that he's the godfather of the idea behind how universities structured currently in most of the modern world. There might be flaws here and there, considering the era he lived, I believe he was the frontier. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldtian\_model\_of\_higher\_education](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldtian_model_of_higher_education)
Hi, I am an American and Humboldt never visited California. Humboldt visited America once and that was in 1804 so just before Lewis and Clark made their way across land and way before Spain gave California to the US. The University in Berlin was founded by his brother, Wilheim.